Wonkbook: Happy purchase-the-federal-government day - Ezra Klein - The Washington Post

If you’ve not already got your tax return postmarked, e-filed or hand-delivered to Timothy Geithner, it’s time to get moving. Today’s the big day. But though April 15th (well, this year, April 18th) gets billed as tax day, it’s actually “purchase the federal government for a year” day. We’re not just spending money. We’re buying something. And over the last year, the centrist-left think tank Third Way and the center-left journal Democracy have mounted an extraordinary campaign to persuade politicians and the IRS that we should be told what, exactly, we’re purchasing."